More than 140 graves found by medieval abbey in Northern Ireland, including executed criminals
Archaeologists have unearthed the bones of 146 people in the graveyard of a now-demolished medieval abbey in Northern Ireland. While most of these people received full Christian burials, a handful of graves may belong to executed criminals who were denied this treatment. The grave s mostly contained the remains of men, as well as a small number of skeletons belonging to women and children, archaeologists told the BBC . Researchers think the find dates to the 14th or 15th century, but further analysis is needed to confirm this. The vast majority of the burials were orientated west to east, following the medieval Christian belief that — in the words of the late 14th century and early 15th century English priest John Mirk in "Festial" — the deceased would be "readier to see Christ coming out of the east at the Doom" in this position. Some later grave s in the newly discovered grave yard faced north to south, however, possibly as a form of punishment for their occ...
